Do You Know Your Cholesterol Levels?

[Pages:36]Do You Know Your Cholesterol Levels?

Healthy Hearts, Healthy Homes

Read other booklets in the Healthy Hearts, Healthy Homes series:

Are You at Risk for Heart Disease?

Do You Need To Lose Weight?

Keep the Beat: Control Your High Blood Pressure

Protect Your Heart Against Diabetes

Enjoy Living Smoke Free

Web site:

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For More Information The NHLBI Information Center is a service of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. The Information Center provides information to health professionals, patients, and the public about the treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of heart, lung, and blood diseases. Please contact the Information Center for prices and availability of publications.

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Selected publications are also available on the NHLBI Web site at nhlbi..

Do You Know Your Cholesterol Levels?

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NIH Publication No. 08-6353 June 2008

Honor Your Heart: Get Moving and Eat Smart

Did you know that high blood cholesterol is a serious problem among Latinos?

About one in five Latinos has high blood cholesterol. Only half of those who have high blood cholesterol

know it. Adult Latinos are less likely than other groups to have

their cholesterol checked.

Isabel G?mez will show you how she and her family lowered their cholesterol levels.

Isabel: "My LDL cholesterol level was high, and I needed to bring it down."

Do You Know Your Cholesterol Levels?

1

Isabel Learns About Blood Cholesterol

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in your body.

Why is high blood cholesterol bad for your heart?

Your body makes all the cholesterol you need to be healthy. When you eat foods high in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, your body can make too much cholesterol.

Over time, this extra cholesterol can clog your arteries. This increases your chances of having a heart attack or stroke.

Normal Artery Clogged Artery

2

Healthy Hearts, Healthy Homes

What is good and bad cholesterol?

HDL is "good cholesterol." It helps clean fat and cholesterol from your blood vessels. Just remember the H in HDL for Healthy, and the Higher it is, the better.

LDL is "bad cholesterol." It carries cholesterol to your blood vessels, clogging them like rust in a pipe. Remember the L in LDL for Lousy, and the Lower it is, the better.

Isabel: "I was not aware that my LDL was high. I made sure that my husband, Mario, got his cholesterol checked, too."

Have your blood cholesterol checked.

The blood test to measure the cholesterol levels is called a lipid profile. You can have this test done at your doctor's office. If you are 20 years of age or older, check your cholesterol at least every 5 years. Your doctor may test you more often if your cholesterol levels are high.

Do You Know Your Cholesterol Levels?

3

Learn what your cholesterol levels mean.

Total Cholesterol:

Less than 200 mg/dL--Ideal. Good for you!

200 to 239 mg/dL--Borderline. Be alert!

240 mg/dL or more-- High. Danger!

Cholesterol Levels

240+ High

200?239 Alert!

Less than 200

LDL (Bad) Cholesterol: Keep it low! Less than 100 mg/dL is ideal.

HDL (Good) Cholesterol:

The higher, the better!

Keep it 40 mg/dL or higher.

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Healthy Hearts, Healthy Homes

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